New research has just come out which will hopefully drive a stake into a scientific theory that has strangled scientific progress in autism. The theory – that autism’s cause is almost entirely genetic – hasn’t matched the evidence for decades and has undermined promising avenues to prevention and effective treatments.

My son with autism is a happy young adult with a big engaging personality. But his left hand is permanently swollen and scarred. He bites his hand when he gets anxious,occasionally so hard that it bleeds. Sometimes we know what triggers the panic attacks. Often we have no idea. They simply arise within, from his biology. In very anxious episodes he may pound his head and cry, “my head hurts.” His gift of autism comes with a heavy price.

Bill was diagnosed with autism in 1992 when he was four and a half years old. After developing normally for 2 1/2 years, he regressed into a severe condition marked by loss of speech and motor skills, behavior dysregulation and altered sensory and mood states that finally became what is called autism.

A few years after his diagnosis, the scientific theory that autism was all genetic—inherited from family members due to rare gene mutations—emerged as a way to explain the mystery of autism. At the time, this view was a step forward from the previous theory of autism as an outcome of bad parenting. At least it attempted to view autism as biologically based rather than psychosocial, and many parent advocates became believers.

The theory also fit the growing love affair among the larger scientific community with everything genetic as the way to solve mankind’s medical problems. And so the autism-as-genetic construct was quickly adopted and has remained entrenched dogma, with significant portions of autism research dollars flowing to labs which would find “autism genes.”

Unfortunately, the theory was based on a handful of small studies of twins, some with conflicting findings. By the late 1990s, the theory also was no longer matching the observable evidence.

A purely genetic etiology requires that autism has always been with us at the same rate for millennia, because genes evolve slowly. By the time my son enrolled in elementary school, I could see that the number of students in the younger grades was vastly larger than the older age groups. I could initially write this off as some missed diagnoses in the older kids, but then the ranks of the younger kids just kept swelling. Other parents and school teachers across the United States began noticing too. And like me, many of us whose children were diagnosed with autism had no history of autism in our families.

In the early 1980s, it was reported that 1 in 2500 children had autism.

In 2014, it is reported that 1 in 68 children have autism.

Yet our observations were dismissed as nonsense by mainstream scientists. We were told that the numbers of children with autism were not really increasing. We were told that there was no epidemic. Official recognition of an increase would put a brake on the genetics steamroller and all the dollars that come with it.

Now a new study of over two million children born in Sweden between 1986 and 2006, which has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, confirms what SafeMinds and parents have been saying for decades: children are as much at risk of getting autism from environmental factors as they are from their genetics. This study by Sven Sandin and his colleagues follows on the heels of another landmark study of twins by Joachim Hallmayer of Stanford, published in 2011, which showed that the larger component of autism risk arises from environmental not hereditary factors. (You can read Mark Blaxill’s informative and detailed discussion of the 2011 California Autism Twin study here.)

Since genes and environment interact to increase autism risk, this means that we are doing something to our children—exposing them to something harmful either while they are still in utero or during their first months or years of life—that is altering their biology. The scientific evidence is overwhelming. Researchers and science policymakers can no longer deny that there is a clear and strong environmental component to the skyrocketing rates of autism.

By ignoring the environmental component to autism, the government and scientific community have made a massive strategic error, wasting enormous amounts of money and time in mostly fruitless genetics-only research that has not helped us stop new cases of autism or helped people living with severe autism.

We can fix this. The studies by Sven Sandin and Joachim Hallmayer can guide us to the end of the autism epidemic. The good news is that environmental causes of neurological disorders are more easily fixed than genetics. When we invest in uncovering the environmental factors that are causing autism spectrum disorders, we can remove those factors from our world. We can study how those factors alter biology and identify the treatments that can remediate those pathways.

Based on this latest evidence, funders like NIH should be charging scientists with the urgent task of discovering what the environmental causes of autism are. Clinging to outdated paradigms harms our community. To its credit, the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences just released a request for proposals on Environmental Contributors to Autism Spectrum Disorders. To its discredit, the NIH’s Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee under the leadership of Dr. Tom Insel continues to obstruct environmental initiatives contained in its own Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Research.

My son was kicked out of nursery school. As he regressed into autism, his speech became so slurred we could no longer understand what he said. For over 20 years we have prioritized achieving a full life with autism. He does volunteer work at a local microbrewery where his co-workers enjoy his lively company. With his job coaches, he arranges the table settings and the outside patio. Though he still has acute anxiety and compulsions like rearranging the couch cushions, he is now able to work 70 minutes at a time.

The relentless disabling conditions that accompany autism can derail even the most valiant efforts to achieve a stable and fulfilling life. According to the new science, something environmental is pushing human biology off track. The implications are significant: We can find out what it is and stop it, and thus we are ethically required to do so. The struggles endured by my son and those like him may no longer be considered morally acceptable.

Sallie Bernard is the president and co-founder of SafeMinds. She is a board member of Autism Speaksand president of Extreme Sports Camp, which offers outdoor adventures and full life experiences for youth and adults across the autism spectrum in Colorado.

About the Author

Sallie Bernard is a co-founder and the President of SafeMinds. She has testified before Congress, presented to the Institute of Medicine, published a number of research papers and letters in science journals, and participates in several government committees addressing the effect of mercury on neurodevelopment. She previously served as board chair for CAN and executive director of the New Jersey chapter, helping to secure millions of dollars for autism research and treatment. She is a member of the board of directors of Autism Speaks and a member of the Founders Forum for The Autism Center of UMDNJ in New Jersey.

I have been trying for eight years now to get published the huge evidence that a tenfoldish increase of autism has been caused by the introduction of non-gamma-2 dental amalgams from 1976 onwards. You can see some of the nasty shallow excuses being used by anonymous unaccountable "experts" to prevent the pubication at http://www.autismcauses.info/2008/01/peer-reviewers-of-pseudoneurotoxicology.html (ignore the '2008', this dates from 2013). Accompanying this is now also the evidence that a huge increase of adult disability occurred exactly in line with the autism increase. And a huge lot more but I can't seriously summarise my tightly-written paper of 13,000 words plus six graphs here, and an aspect of the "scientific" anti-publication system is that journals will refuse to publish if you have already put on a website.
As for the two recent twin studies, I have been saying for more than 30 years now that autism has both genetic and environmental factors causing it. The antiinnatia theory, still completely unchallenged in evidence or reasoning, was published in 1993 and it stated the conditions under which autism would change from mainly genetic to mainly environmental (PS - I was meaning there hereditary and environmental as predominant factors rather than 100% one or other):
"Now consider the effect of such environmental changes on the prevalence of the two categories of autistic persons, namely hereditary and environmental ....."
"If a rare perinatal adversity were to become somewhat more common, then obviously, autism of the environmental category would become more prevalent."
Thus it is no surprise at all to me that the more recent studies have come up with different results from the older ones. But that's only a part of what I have to say.
I could say a huge amount more if I my efforts at publishing were not so constantly blocked by charlatans pretending to be experts.

I began working with autistic adults in 1994 and I'm thrilled to see that new research is finally documenting the fact that its root cause is NOT just genetic, but absolutely heavily influenced by many environmental factors. Thanks so much for this article!

My daughter was diagnosed with autism at 4 and a half years old she will be 17 yrs old next month. She used to bite her hand a lot back in 2007 she has been on a drug called Adderall XR 10MG presently on Adderall XR 15MG it seems to work except when she gets very nervous or anxious she seems to be regressing to those same behaviors taht include biting and hitting her face very hard at times, Can anyone offer any possible supplements or perhaps therapy suggesstions for this type of behavior? Just searching for solutions. .

Sallie,
Thanks so much for this great article and your relentless commitment to the search for truth as to what happened to a generation of children and what can be done to help them recover their health.
You are truly a beacon of light guiding others down the path and offering hope for our community.

Top toxins to avoid (before pregnant, during pregnancy and for all living humans):
1. Aspartame
2. Round-up (Glyphosate)
3. all pesticides and herbicides
4. GMO foods (some may be OK but we have no long term testing on safety) - corn and soy in USA is $90% GMO so comes with it's lovely dose of glyphosate.
5. Mercury (highest in fish - avoid most fish and eat sparingly the smaller safer fish)
6. Filter your water (charcoal at least and reverse osmosis if possible) - this is a large source of pesticides & herbicides.

Don't forget vaccines - vaccines are loaded with toxins including aspartame, MSG, mercury (don't believe they have removed it, now just consider it "trace" amounts, and still full force in flu shots), aluminum, as well as GMOs and other harmful ingredients. These substances are injected directly in to our children bypassing the body's natural defense systems of skin and mucosal membranes, thus producing only temporary immunity and compromising normal immune function.

Sallie, you are one of my heroes. Thanks for your leadership in this area. There is no question the causes of chronic diseases that affect our neurotransmitters (Autism, ASD, ADD, ADHD, anxiety ....label on doctors ...is toxins, toxins, toxins and to some extent nutritional deficiencies, with the epigenetic effect (how our genes interact with the environment) being huge. You are absolutely correct that we can largely prevent this growing epidemic.
I was in Medical school in 1981 - 1985. We didn't see autism at all. In residency in 1985 - 1988, I saw a few cases of mild and moderate PDD-NOS (now called ASD). Then the numbers of children becoming autistic started to grow and grow. I experienced the 1/100 children regressing into autism. Like you describe most are normal at age one and loose language and social skills by age 2-3 years.
The past 6 years, at Integrative Pediatrics here in Portland Oregon, patients are counseled to consider not getting the Tdap during pregnancy (no studies on injecting aluminum into pregnant women or even primates), take prenatal with iodine, take extra vit D up to 5,000 IU daily, and omega - 3 and eat organic and avoid fish while pregnant. At birth babies are not given the Hep B vaccine if mom does not have Hep B (Hep B vaccine has 250 micrograms aluminum - daily max for adults is 50 micrograms). Then vaccinate the first year just for the meningitis causes (Hip and prevnar) and to protect against pertussis (DTaP), but don't give two aluminum containing vaccines at the same time (DTaP and Prevnar both have way too much aluminum). Unless you are living in a measles high risk area where there are active cases, consider waiting until at least age three for that vaccine.
Raise your children on whole foods, delay or avoid gluten, test for food sensitivities after age one if any health challenges develop, and for micronutrient deficiencies anytime after that if chronic health issues arise. I'm happy to report no new cases of autism in families that don't already have an autistic child in over 1000 children born into my practice, who have a child now at least 3 years old. I should have seen 10 - 20 new cases over this period of time.
YES - we need more research. We need someone with the funding to gather the data on the families who are choosing to vaccinate differently and along with taking a thorough health history and perhaps also genetic SNP testing (bring back 23 and me) we can get a clear picture of the environmental triggers.
www.drpaulvideos.com for blogs and videos on these types of topics and all things pediatrics.

Thank you for writing this article. I wanted to share that my daughter is completely recovered from autism. Studies are just starting to come out to prove that autism can be reversed and more importantly, can be prevented. After long hours of research, labs, numerous doctors, we found out that it all came down to gut flora. Dr. McFabe's work is validating what we saw in our own child. Pull out not only gluten, dairy and sugar (and foods that turn to sugar, like rice) but adding lots of fermented foods and drinks to rebalance the gut. Our daughter's diagnosis was dropped within a year of doing this and she is 9 now and continues to amaze us. More studies need to come out to prove to all of the doctors that tell families there is nothing you can do for autism. That is what we were told by our pediatrician and it makes me so angry to think how many children could be helped.

The environmental causes of autism have been heavily implied by work presented through the Children's Environmental Health Center at Mt. Sinai, run by Dr. Philip Landrigan. Two problems sit parked at the "Singing from the same hymn book" assembly:
1. Getting information to women in their child-bearing years about protecting their fetus and young children from harmful chemicals is NOT mainstream information. The most likely point of contact is pediatricians - who can talk to teens and young mothers about toxins in the home and environment -- BUT DON'T. The population that finds that information actively accesses it because they are already aware of the link between enviro neurotoxins and neurological impact. WE NEED PSA's -- enough has been made of "neurotoxins" in the environment without it being loudly spelled out for would-be parents (and teenagers) that these lead to autism and other serious neurological disorders.
2. Grassroots organizations are doing all the heavy lifting; not the well funded research bodies. The "national platform" of Autism Speaks is not using its influence (to my knowledge) to collaborate with research bodies like Dr. Landrigan's to inform the public of industries that contribute toxins to our families' daily lives. CEHC at Mt. Sinai has done much of this work, and so has GRASSROOTS Environmental Education (www.grassrootsinfo.org), but it has not gotten the Media voice it requires to move the info out beyond those who seek it. The work of Environmental Working Group and Women's Voices for the Earth also address these toxic triggers, but are not connecting the dots and are not connected to the mainstream public.